Gamers who have played The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will likely be familiar with Philippa Eilhart, one of the more powerful former members of the Lodge of Sorceresses. Her eyes were infamously gouged out on the order of King Radovid, but she then escaped. Newly revealed Witcher 3 concept art for Eilhart shows a far more unsettling appearance; the sorceress’ empty eye sockets filled with gemstones.
Witcher Fact #6
Philippa Eilhart’s gaze is truly hypnotizing. Before she covered her eyes with a scarf in The Witcher 3, she would attempt to bring back her sight with the use of jewels. Thus, her eye sockets would carry gems as seen on some of these early artworks. pic.twitter.com/rS839Ai0v7
— The Witcher (@witchergame) October 21, 2018
Newly Released Witcher 3 Concept Art of Philippa Eilhart
“Philippa Eilhart’s gaze is truly hypnotising,” says CD Projekt Red; “Before she covered her eyes with a scarf in The Witcher 3, she would attempt to bring back her sight with the use of jewels. Thus, her eye sockets would carry gems as seen on some of these early artworks.”
Eilhart’s plan to replace her eyes with gemstones is mentioned in the Witcher 3 quest “Redania’s Most Wanted”. Eilhart planned to replicate the actions of Vilgefortz, a major character from The Witcher novels who replaced his lost eye by growing tissue over the surface of a gemstone. Vilgefortz was the first mage to successfully accomplish this. Geralt found evidence of her work when he searched her old laboratory, though she had yet to be successful. In her dealings with Arthur de Vleester, she had become trapped in her owl form. Thus, she was incapable of continuing her research.
Ultimately, Eilhart appears in The Witcher 3 with a scarf covering her eye sockets. Looking at the original concept art, it seems likely that the developers may have felt that she looked too unsettling with gemstone eyes; the artwork is certainly creepy, even when the eyes appear in conjunction with masks. The game suggests that she didn’t know how Vilgefortz was capable of doing what he did. However, given her prowess as a sorceress, she may well have been able to replicate the achievement given more time.